Skywatch Friday - Camotes Island

Santiago Bay, Camotes Island, Cebu

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”

— St. Augustine (354-430)

For more Skywatch Friday photos, please visit Wiggers World

Daydreaming [and a Tag]

sailing in San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge at the background

I like to daydream. It's one of my escapes when I'm bored or stressed. It's also a motivator when I need to get creative. I guess I just have an over-active imagination.

I daydream about all sorts of things. I never told anybody but when I was a kid, I used to daydream I was Kelly (played by Jaclyn Smith) of Charlie's Angels. In my grandfather's laguerta, there was a huge uprooted acacia tree and it was my favorite playground. I would sit at the longest end of the root and daydreamed of being a pirate princess riding the waves.

a boat-shaped Alcatraz at the background

I'm an adult now and yes, I still daydream.

While stuck in traffic, I imagine myself driving a red Porsche along the Italian Riviera. Most people would rather go to sleep during long trips, but not me. I prefer to daydream...build my castles in the air. In one of my trips to Baguio, I imagined myself living in a rustic cabin on top of the mountain, complete with a satellite TV and wi-fi. In Boracay, I daydreamed of owning a yacht where I also live, read all day, and sail from island to island. I imagine myself in an African safari as a professional photographer. I imagine visiting the Taj Mahal with Richard Gere (my imaginary boyfriend) where he pledges his undying love for me. I imagine being rich enough to have my own shelter for battered women and abused children, and have more than enough money to send my three nephews to Harvard or Oxford (this would probably remain a dream, unless there's divine intervention on their grades).

As I get older, my daydreams have become a little bit realistic (well, except for Richard Gere and his undying love, but hey, who knows? ). I don't think that old age has made me less imaginative. I'd like to believe that I'm now aiming for things that I can possibly attain. I once daydreamed of going to Paris and walk by the River Sienne under the moonlight. Well, it was not exactly under a full moon, but I was able to visit Paris two years ago and walked by the River Sienne from the Louvre to the Notre Dame Cathedral. I dreamed of experiencing New York City (yeah, from watching Sex and the City :D), and it happened. I don't know what will come next. I hope it's the rustic cabin on the mountains or a DSLR camera!:D

Bay Bridge and Bay area skyline

I have a cousin who once showed me a scrapbook of her dreams. A picture of her dream house, her dream car, beautiful places she would like to see. She believes that if you have visual aids of your dreams, it's easier to strive for them. No, I don't have posters of Richard Gere or a vintage red Ferrari at the ceiling above my bed.:D

Is daydreaming bad? No, i don't think so. As long as you separate your daydreams from reality, they're a great motivation for us to work harder for a better life. I'm a dreamer. There are a lot of things that I dream of doing before I die. Some I've already been able to attain, but some I still need to work for.

How about you? Do you think dreams can come true?


While you're thinking about the question and your dreams, I'm doing the Tag from Lawstude.

The Rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Why 7, I don't know...but it's my lucky number, so here goes:

1. The younger years: My first fashion show was at age 3 where I wore a muumuu, kalachuchi garland, another kalachuchi at my right ear, and my beaded slippers were chewed by a family dog. I won my first singing competition at age 5 with the song “Help Me make it Through the Night. Prize money was 10 pesos. I practiced singing on top of the dining table with the whole clan as my critic and audience.

2. I have been to Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, US, London, France, Italy, Amsterdam, and three quarters of the Philippines---half the time, I traveled alone.

3. I cry at the lamest of movies. I deny crying when Gabby married Sharon. I cry at TV commercials, Lupang Hinirang, and one time at Don McLean’s American Pie while riding a jeepney. I cry at weddings and christenings more than I cry at funerals.

4. I have cravings for pop corn, salmon sashimi, squash seeds and raw oysters dipped in vinegar with chili.

5. I pull my hair. Shaving my head is one of my favorite fantasies when I look in the mirror.

6. I once dreamed of becoming a painter, a writer, and an architect. Sometimes, I wish I’m a social worker, an activist, an assassin, or a barrio doctor.

7. My weary spirit is soothed in bookstores, with body massage, and at the ladies’ shoe section.

I'm tagging 7 blog buddies whose blog sites I visit often, and are nice enough to leave their comments here. No pressure, no rush...no need to reveal your deep dark secrets.:D

1. Gizelle

2. Bugsybee

3. Cons

4. Panaderos

5. Senior Enrique

6. Migs

7. Bertn

Fritz at The Fort

These are photos of Fritz taken yesterday at The Fort. I wanted to bring him to Bonifacio High Street across the parking lot to socialize but he was afraid of crossing the street so we stayed at the open grassy parking lot. Good thing we had the parking lot to ourselves that Sunday afternoon. I delight in his silly moods, and his big, dark brown eyes looking up at me adoringly. He snuggled with me on the grass and we watched the sunset together.

Bonifacio High Street

sunset behind the high rise

Skywatch Friday - Bantayan Island

A perfect summer day at Kota Beach Resort in

Bantayan Island, Cebu

"When I look into the blue sky, it seems so deep, so peaceful, so full of a mysterious tenderness that I could lie for centuries, and wait for the dawning of the face of God out of the awful loving-kindness." ~ George MacDonald

For more Sky Watch Friday photos, click Tom Wigley

Brothers in Arms

From the beginning of the song, Brothers in Arms captivates. Its haunting guitar solos and whispery vocals make me close my eyes and listen to the unmistakable essence of the song. As Mark Knopfler sings an ode about ancient Scotland and war, his gruff voice and his guitar creates a powerful feeling of desolation. But it was a kind of feeling that Victor Hugo described as “the pleasure of being sad”.

Now the suns gone to hell

And the moons riding high

Let me bid you farewell

Every man has to die

But its written in the starlight

And every line on your palm

We’re fools to make war

On our brothers in arms…

This was brought about by a 2006 TV police procedural drama, In Justice, which I caught on TV the other night. My attention was really on Fritz when I heard the familiar melody in the background. Tuning in, I couldn’t remember the song but memories came rushing back. I went to bed with the familiar melody in my head.

I become a bit obssessive when I couldn't remember something, so the next morning, I asked my brother if he remembers the melody---I hummed and described the guitar. Voila! It’s Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms! (Memory loss is definitely the result of general anaesthesia, not old age! No kidding!:D) Anyway, I have a Dire Straits cd since forever but I haven’t listened to it in years. It’s actually a burned cd, a collection of songs from their albums. When I came home that night, I dug up the cd and listened and remember how much I love Dire Straits.

So what’s so special about Dire Straits? Is it that whiff of “don’t-give-a-damn” attitude, the classic air of negligence in Mark Knopfler’s delivery, or the brilliant guitar playing? Not in the same brilliance as Jimi Hendrix or Joe Satriani but definitely up there.

Dire Straits is definitely not for everybody. While I was raving about the band’s music years ago, a friend who was totally into rock music said that the songs are so boring, she couldn’t stand it! In the reign of punk-rock, I thought Dire Straits music is unique and mind-blowing. I love the combined folk-blues sound of their music, and the fact that they don’t vent out their frustrations in the open but instead let their feelings gush through in a more subtle, intelligent manner.

Other standouts in the collection, aside from their hits Sultan of Swing, Romeo and Juliet, Tunnel of Love, Money for Nothing, are the thought-provoking slow blues, Fade To Black and Your Latest Trick, with its Caribbean feel and sensational sax, done with an amazing feeling of taste.

Dire Straits’ music is definitely diverse and eclectic. For lovers of fine guitar, Dire Straits shouldn't be missed---they’re probably the best rock band in history!

Dire Straits was an award-winning English rock band formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (vocals and guitar), his brother David (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums). The band was dissolved in 1995.